Capture
by xxxBloodiedWolfPawxxx
Summary: Ravyn Fullbuster was taken from her family at age five, and rescued by her brother and Natsu eleven years later. Now, as she adjusts to a foreign world, she finds herself becoming closer and closer to Gajeel. Just what will come of this? And will it last? T for now. GajeelxOC Other Pairings unsure.
1. Chapter 1

One:

"What the hell is everyone so damn hyper about?" Gajeel snapped, looking around the guild hall with a sour look. The guild was a lot louder than normal, and everyone was grinning about something. "What the hell did I miss?"

"I'm not quite sure," Pantherlily said pressing a paw to his chin in thought. He was sitting cross-legged on the table in front of Gajeel's bowl of metal. Gajeel sighed, and bit the end of a screw off.

"I don't know if I really care, but this fuss better be worth the headache it's giving me," he snapped. Lily sighed but said nothing more as his paw dropped to his lap.

Gajeel let his eyes scan the guild hall once more before he decided he really didn't care what was going on. He tossed the screw back into the bowl and stood, earning a curious glance from Lily.

"Are you going home?" the dark furred exceed asked.

"I was hoping it was going to be quitter than this place," he said. Lily chuckled once and nodded.

"Fair enough. I suppose I'll see you later then," he said. Gajeel nodded a little and started for the door, with an unintelligible grumble.

As he had almost reached the door he felt something smack into his side. He let out a growl, and looked at what, or who, had run into him and he cut off mid growl.

The girl next to him had to be no taller than Levy, and at the moment she was biting her lip nervously. She was sickly thin, and pale white, as if she had never seen the sun. Looking at her face she did look sickly, and her blue eyes were nervous and apologetic. Her black hair looked dull and had been cut unevenly short.

Gajeel also noticed bandages on her arms, and on other various visible parts of her body. She wore a simple black dress that barely reached her knees.

"I-I'm s-sorry!" she stuttered, looking at the floor quickly, wringing her hands in front of her. "I-I wasn't w-watching where I was g-going…"

Gajeel almost came back with a smart remark but something about the girl made it impossible for him to. Instead he just looked away and sighed.

"Don't worry about it…" he grumbled. "No harm done…"

That seemed to make her feel a bit better, as she attempted a small smile. As he shifted his gaze back over to her he noticed how much that simple action brightened up her features.

"I'm um…" she looked away nervously as she spoke. "I'm Ravyn," she finally said. "Uh, Ravyn Fullbuster…"

Gajeel raised a studded eyebrow. "Fullbuster? You ice head's little sister or something?" The girl nodded.

"Um yeah," she said, looking at her feet, a small blush coming to her cheeks.

"I thought all his family died," Gajeel said crossing his arms. The girl jumped a bit.

"Um, I was um… Taken from my family when I was five…" she said quietly. That made a bit more sense. "I was um… captive in Raven Tail until a few days ago," she explained. Gajeel sighed a little bit again.

"That guild is full of nothing but morons," he growled. "They'll get theirs one day… How the hell'd you get out?"

"Um… One of the members helped me um… escape…" She said. "I think his name was Jellal or something…" Gajeel seemed surprised.

'Ain't that Titania's little boyfriend or something?' He thought to himself.

"How'd you end up here?" he asked, leaning against a wooden column.

"I was um… wandering through the woods, and um… Gray-nii and his team found me I guess… I don't really remember them finding me… All I really remember is waking up in their camp," Ravyn said, looking away again.

"So I see you found Gajeel," He looked up to see Gray walk up and put a hand on Ravyn's shoulder. She looked up at him and then back at the iron dragon slayer.

"You're Gajeel?" she asked. When he nodded she seemed confused. "You're not as mean as Natsu-san said you would be…"

Gajeel had to laugh at that one.

"Salamander's an idiot," he said, chuckling as he shook his head. Ravyn bit her lip again. "Don't listen to him," Gajeel said before walking out of the guild.

Gray sighed. "Wow…" He shook his head as Ravyn turned to him. "Don't listen to that," Gray said, gently squeezing Ravyn's shoulder. "They're both pretty crazy but…" Gray shrugged. "As long as Gajeel isn't being a jerk you I don't see why you couldn't hang out with him if you wanted," he said. "Same thing with Natsu." Ravyn nodded a little.

"Um… Okay," she said. Gray smiled a little.

"Come on, before Natsu comes after us," he said. She nodded again and followed him back over to the bar.

XxX

"So what do you think of the new girl?" Gajeel looked up from where he sat on his couch to the dark furred exceed that hovered in the air in front of him.

"What do you mean?" he asked confused.

"I saw you talking to her. You actually smiled. Hell, you laughed Gajeel. And you just met her," Pantherlily said. Gajeel chuckled and shook his head.

"She reminds me of Levy," he said. Lily nodded.

"Is that all?" Lily asked as he landed on the couch next to Gajeel.

"What do ya mean is that all?" Gajeel asked, giving his exceed a look.

"Nothing," Lily said with a smirk. Gajeel gave him a warning look.

"Yeah, okay, whatever," he said looking away. His head shot up again as he heard a knock on his door.

"Yeah?" he called.

He heard the door open, and his eyebrow raised until he say blue hair come into view. A small smile came to his face and he sat back.

"Hey," Levy said with a smile, petting Lily as she stopped next to the couch.

"What's up?" Gajeel asked.

"The guild is going to the beach tomorrow, and I wanted to know if you were going too," Levy said, sitting down on the edge of the couch. Gajeel shrugged.

"I dunno why I should," he said.

"Oh, please? Gajeel, come on," Levy pleaded. He sighed. "Gajeel, please?"

He sighed again. "Oh fine, only because you asked," he grumbled. She grinned.

"Yay! Thank you!" She jumped to her feet and clapped her hands in delight. He had to smile a little bit.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't mention it," he said, waving it away. She smiled still.

"Alright. I have to go though. I'm staying at Lu-chan's tonight, so I'll see you tomorrow!" she said, waving and then hurrying out. Gajeel sighed again.

"If you don't want to go, then why did you say yes?" Lily asked. Gajeel sighed.

"Dunno," the iron dragon slayer mumbled. "I just can't tell her no," he said.

Lily smirked a little. "I wonder why?"

Gajeel glared at the dark exceed. "Shut the hell up, Lily," he said. Lily's smirk widened.

"Whatever you say, Gajeel," Lily said.

XxX

"Whatcha reading?" Levy looked up from her book and smiled.

"Took you long enough to get here, Gajeel," she teased. He shook his head and dropped down onto the sand.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," he said. She smiled at him as Wendy ran over to them.

"Hey, what's up Wendy?" Levy asked the forlorn girl.

"Carla and I are trying to build a sand castle, but people keep knocking it down," she whimpered. Gajeel frowned and jumped to his feet.

"Come on," he said, gently taking Wendy's arm and leading her back to where her sand castle lay wrecked.

"Hey!" he barked at the guild members that were screwing around close to where the remains of the castle lay. "Go fuck around somewhere else!" He snapped. They looked at him and hurried away. Wendy grinned.

"Thank you Gajeel!" Wendy said happily. Gajeel smiled a little as well. He looked around the beach and he could see Gray down the beach, teaching Ravyn to swim, while Natsu and Happy splashed around nearby them. He shook his head and sat down across from Wendy as she started to rebuild her castle.

XxX

"God, you swim better than I do," Natsu said, teasing Ravyn yet again. Today she wore a frilly black two piece. Gray shook his head.

"That's because you never tried," he said. Ravyn smiled a little.

"Well, I'm heading in," Natsu said.

"Aye!" Happy cried. Gray sighed a little.

"I actually have to agree, I'm getting kind of hungry," he said, stretching. "You coming Ravyn?" She shook her head a little.

"Can I stay out a little longer?" she asked, biting her lip.

"Just don't go out too far," Gray said. She nodded and smiled a little. He ruffled her hair, before heading to the shore with Natsu and Happy.

Hours went by, and everything seemed alright, until the waves started getting rougher and the sky started to darken.

"Hey! Ravyn!" Gray called, standing at the shore. "You should probably start coming in! It's gonna storm!" he called. She looked up and nodded, slowly starting to come closer to the shore.

Gajeel looked out towards the waves, noticing how much bigger they were getting with every second. And suddenly something hit him.

Ravyn wasn't going to make it.

"Wendy, take Carla and go to the others," he said standing. Wendy looked up worriedly, but nodded and picked Carla up, running farther inland. As Gajeel turned back towards the water he heard Ravyn scream as a wave hit her and pulled her under.

"No!" Gray screamed. He was about to run into the water when Gajeel shoved him back.

"Have Juvia control the waves!" he yelled, running full speed into the water. Gray hesitated just a moment before turning around, just as Gajeel disappeared beneath the waves.

'Don't let him be too late…'


	2. Chapter 2

Two:

The water was dark, and it was hard to make anything out. The current kept throwing him every which way, and he fought to go forward, reaching out and searching the water in front of him, praying he'd find her.

'Dammit!' He thought. He shot upwards, his head breaking the surface, he looked back towards the shore quickly, seeing Juvia fight to try and control the water, and everyone else was crowned together far away from the shore. He gulped down a huge breath before disappearing under the water again.

'Dammit Ravyn…' he thought, still searching. The water lit up as lightning flashed in the sky. That was when he saw her, her eyes closed, her body being thrown around like a rag doll. He swam forward hard, reaching out until he could grab her wrist. He growled to himself and pulled her toward him, before swimming to the surface again, their heads breaking the surface as lightning flashed across the sky again. It made him nervous as hell as thunder rumbled loudly. After taking a breath he started back towards the shore, struggling to keep their heads above the water.

As he got closer to the shore his feet finally touched the bottom. He stood straight and pulled Ravyn up bridal style, making it easier to keep her head out of the water. He could tell she wasn't breathing and it panicked him.

He hurried to get through the water, waves slamming hard onto his back. He fought anyway until finally he got out of the water, and he took a few steps away from it before dropping to his knees and laying Ravyn down.

"Get me a blanket!" He yelled before turning to the unconscious girl in front of him. She was paler than normal and her lips were blue. He growled to himself, before pressing his hands to her chest and pushing downwards. He repeated the action until she stirred, coughing and spitting up water. He pulled her onto her side as until she had coughed up the last of the water and panted, her eyes opening just a little. Gajeel looked up as Gray dropped down next to them, pulling Ravyn up and wrapping her in a towel, pulling her close.

"Thank you Gajeel," he said, the fear in his voice obvious. Gajeel nodded, and sat back exhausted as Levy ran over and handed him a blanket as well.

"Thanks," he said breathlessly. Ravyn started to cry and she clung to her brother, who picked her up in his arms and started towards the others with her. Gajeel slowly stood as well, and headed away from the water as well, Levy right on his heels.

"You saved her," Levy said in awe. "You could've died too, and yet you saved her anyway," Levy said.

"Yeah, I know, Levy," he said

"You know you were at double the risk she was?" Pantherlily snapped once Gajeel was in range. "You were in the water during a thunderstorm! And you conduct electricity you idiot!" the dark furred exceed snapped fearfully. Gajeel sighed and picked him up.

"I know you're scared Lily, just relax," he muttered, slipping under the huge tent that Makarov had set up for the guild when they had arrived that morning.

He dropped into a chair and picked up a towel, running it over his hair with a sigh. Gray was sitting near him with Ravyn, who was still crying. He rocked her slowly, petting her wet hair. "You're alright, you're safe," he said. Gajeel looked away from them to the exceed who shook in his arms.

"Come on Lily, it's alright," he said as he pulled the blanket around himself and Lily, looking out at the storm. Most people had gathered under the tent to escape the downpour.

Lightning flashed outside and as the thunder boomed Ravyn and Wendy cried out in fear as Lily let out a fearful whimper. Gajeel sighed as Lily put his paws over his ears. Gray only hugged Ravyn tighter and out of the crowd one could hear Cana trying calm Wendy down.

"Well, this sucks," Natsu said dropping into a chair next to Gajeel. Gajeel chuckled a little.

"You're tellin' me Salamander," he said. Natsu grinned.

"Man, I can't believe you ran in there after Ravyn," he said. "I'm impressed. Why'd you do it?"

"No idea. I just moved," Gajeel said shaking his head. Natsu nodded.

"I understand that," he said. "Where's Lily?"

Gajeel raised an eyebrow and moved the blanket to reveal Lily who was shaking and clinging to Gajeel. Natsu frowned as Gajeel put the blanket back where it was. He sighed a little and leaned back in his chair.

"I hope this passes soon," Levy said. "A bunch of people want to go home," she said, looking over at Gray and Ravyn. She was starting to calm down, but would jump whenever the thunder rumbled. Gajeel nodded a little.

"Lily's freaking out too," he said. Levy frowned.

"Poor thing…" she cooed. Gajeel chuckled once at that.

"But, that really was brave of you, Gajeel," she said. "Saving Ravyn… A lot of people are really impressed." He smiled a tiny bit.

"They should be," he joked. Levy laughed.

"Oh Gajeel…"

XxX

He went in super late the next day. The storm had lasted most of the day, forcing people to brave it to go home, him included.

It had been around one in the morning when it finally died down. It took about a half hour after that to calm Lily down before either of them to pass out. He had slept into the early afternoon, before he woke up and decided to go into the guild. There were other people who came in late, Gray and Ravyn being two of those people.

He had been eating a bowl of metal when she approached him, and he looked up, giving her a small smile. "Good to see you're okay," he said. She nodded and looked down, biting her lip, a tiny blush spreading onto her cheeks.

"Um… T-Thank you… F-For saving me yesterday," she said, peeking up at him. He waved it away.

"Don't thank me… I don't even know why the hell I did it. I wasn't as close as your brother was, and I probably should have let him do it, but, eh," he said with a shrug. Ravyn nodded.

"Still… Thank you," she said. She smiled a tiny bit at him. He returned the tiny smile and looked back at his bowl of metal for a moment.

"Just… Be more careful next time eh?" he asked looking back at her. She nodded quickly. "I think my cat might kill me for it next time," he said.

"W-Why? I-If you don't mind me asking," she said. Gajeel shook his head.

"I use iron magic, and I have metal piercings," he said. "It's really not safe for me to be… in the water during thunderstorms, ya know, with the lightning and all." Ravyn nodded.

"I guess that makes sense," she said. He nodded.

"Lily doesn't like thunderstorms much as it is," Gajeel said looking across the guild to where his exceed sat with Happy and Carla.

"Is he okay?" Ravyn asked following his gaze. Gajeel nodded.

"Once the storm quit last night he was fine," the iron slayer said. Ravyn nodded again.

"Well, um… Thank you… again," she said giving him a smile. He just shook his head.

"Told ya not to thank me," he said. She smiled a little wider.

"Do you um… Think we could hang out sometime?" she asked. He smiled a tiny bit.

"Whatever," he said with a shrug. Ravyn grinned.

"Alright!" she said. "See you later!" she said before running off. Gajeel looked away, that tiny smile still playing on his lips.

"That girl is a weirdo, I swear," he muttered to himself. "Oh well..."

XxX

"So, you asked him to hang out?" Gray asked a small smirk on his face. He was leaning against his counter, and Ravyn sat at the table. She was blushing bright red, and staring at the wood structure in front her intently.

"I-Is that so wrong?" she asked, peeking up at her older brother. Gray's smirk widened but he shook his head.

"No, like I said, I don't care as long as he isn't a jack ass," he said. She nodded a little. "Do you like him?" Gray suddenly asked after a pause. Ravyn flushed a deep red.

"N-No!" she cried. "N-Not like that!" Gray laughed. Ravyn glared at him. "It isn't funny!"

"Actually, it is. You're so cute when you get all flustered like that," he said. She glared harder at him.

"You're mean big brother!" she cried covering her face with her hands. She could feel tears well up in her eyes. This reminded her of when Ultear would taunt and torment her in that room.

That dark and disgusting room where she had lived for eleven years.

"I'm sorry," Gray finally said after a minute. Ravyn didn't move her hands, and her body shook slightly, as she cried silently in her hands.

"Ravyn," Gray said, stepping forward and putting a hand on her back. She shrieked and lurched away from him, falling from her chair, and backing away from him.

"Stay away from me!" she screamed. "Just leave me alone! You're just like _her!_" she screamed, covering her face again. "You just want to make fun of me!" she sobbed. Gray felt his heart drop into his stomach.

"No, Ravyn," he said softly. "I was just teasing," he said kneeling down near her. "I never meant to upset you," he said. She shook her head hard. He reached out to touch her knee and she shrieked again and kicked him.

"No! Get away!" she screamed, jumping to her feet, fear surging through her as Gray cried out and fell backwards. She backed away from him, running for the door.

"Ravyn! Stop!" he called, as he quickly got to his feet. He started to go after her, and she screamed, running from the small apartment with no shoes, and no coat, into the cold rainy night. It meant nothing to her. She had to get away.

'He's gonna hurt me!' her mind kept screaming. Of course, some part of her knew better, but that part was forcefully silenced by her fear.

"Ravyn!" Gray called as he ran after her. He could see his breath, and he knew it wasn't good for her to be out here on her own.

'Damn it, you idiot, you should know better than to say shit like that,' he thought bitterly to himself as he continued to search for her.

"Gray!" He looked behind him to see Natsu and Lucy behind him. "What are you doing out here?" Lucy asked.

"Ravyn's upset… I said something I shouldn't have and she freaked out and ran off. I was teasing her, and she took it the wrong way." Natsu frowned.

"Come on, we'll help you look for her," the rosette said. Gray nodded and they continued their search until it was impossible to see.

"Damn it," Gray said. He didn't want to give up, but there was no way they'd find her this late at night.

"Come on, Gray," Natsu said. "We'll find her tomorrow. I know you don't want to give up, but there's nothing else we can do tonight."

With a defeated sigh Gray let them lead him home.


	3. Chapter 3

Three:

The slap of her footsteps in the mud filled her ears, and while she heard no one behind her, her fear pushed her forward. Her feet hurt and she couldn't feel her toes. She knew her body couldn't go much farther, as her pace had already slowed considerably. Her breathing was quick fearful gasps, making her light headed, the more that she ran.

The rain still poured, making it impossible for her to see, and making the mud beneath her feet slicker by the second.

Suddenly her legs gave out and she fell face first into the mud. She spat on the ground as she struggled to try and get back to her feet, failing, as she slipped violently back to the ground. She felt tears sting in her eyes, as her strength left her.

"No," she whimpered, the edges of her vision darkening. Somewhere in front of her she heard voices, and though they were distant, she could make out two distinct voices, both lower in pitch. They sounded familiar, people from the guild, but she couldn't place them specifically through the rain.

"Help!" she squeaked, her voice strained. She desperately tried to crawl forward, getting nowhere, as her vision continued to darken. "Help…"

The last thing she remembered was the figures of the two voices coming toward her.

XxX

Gray didn't sleep that night. He couldn't. He was too worried about Ravyn. The whole night he stared out his window, trying to see if he could spot her through the rain.

'Idiot… She's not gonna come home or be anywhere near here after what you said…' he thought bitterly to himself. 'You should know better than to tease her like that! If she gets herself hurt or in trouble, it's gonna be your fault…" He couldn't shake his guilt. It was too bad.

'I just got her back… And now I might lose her again,' he thought, his eyes falling to his lap.

Around nine o'clock that morning he passed out, the rain still pouring away.

XxX

"That's your choice if you wanna go out there and try and find him or one of his friends. It's too wet if ya ask me. Besides, I can't really just leave her alone here, and I definitely ain't gonna make you sit here with her," As consciousness began to return, Ravyn recognized the speaker as one of the voices from the night before. The voice was muffled, by either a wall, or a door, but she definitely recognized it.

"Are you saying I am incapable of taking care of someone?" the second voice was also muffled, but she recognized this one as well.

"You know that ain't what I'm sayin'! All I'm sayin' is that it'd be better for _her_ if I stayed. You're a cat for Christ's sake! I know if I were her and terrified I wouldn't want to wake up to a cat," the first voice snapped. As her eyes opened and she slowly sat up someone stomped toward the bedroom door. She jumped a little as the door was swung open roughly.

"Oh, you're awake," it took her a moment as the cloudiness slowly left her mind to recognize the man as Gajeel, meaning this was the second time he had saved her.

"W-Where-?" she started to ask as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"My apartment, or whatever the hell ya want to call it," he said. She nodded slowly as he leaned against the wall.

"U-Um, t-thank you," she stammered, feeling suddenly shy. He just shook his head.

"Don't thank me. Why the hell were you out there?" Gajeel asked, his eyebrows furrowing. At the question Ravyn looked down.

"I…" She felt tears sting in her eyes again as she slowly started to explain. "G-Gray was… was teasing me… and I… It sounded like something they would always say back at Raven Tail and I just… I started crying and I got scared… I… it was like I was back in that room. I thought he was going to hit me and I ran away," she said, her tears spilling. For a moment she expected him to yell at her, to call her stupid and a baby but he was silent, and the silence unnerved her more than anything.

"You shouldn't worry him like that," she looked up as Pantherlily spoke. "I'm sure he was out looking for you all night," the dark furred cat said. She looked back down, as tears continued to spill.

"I d-didn't mean it!" she cried covering her face with her hands. Gajeel sighed a bit.

"And I'm sure he didn't either," Lily continued.

"Enough Lily, just shut up," Gajeel said as Ravyn started to sob. Lily frowned but fell silent as Gajeel sighed again and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Ravyn," he said. When she didn't look at him he sighed again. "Ravyn, look at me," he said firmly, moving her hands from her face and then lifting her chin with one hand. "Listen, I'm sure Gray didn't mean it, and I'm sure he's not mad at you, just worried. But you can't just run off like that. What if you had gotten seriously hurt? Then how would Gray feel?" She sniffled at that.

"I'm s-sorry!" she cried. Gajeel sighed and shook his head.

"Don't apologize to me," he said. "I just don't wanna find you passed out on the ground in the middle of town again, alright?" he asked. She nodded vigorously, wiping her tears as he smiled a little bit.

"As long as that's clear, I might as well take you home," he said. "Your clothes are in the corner. Get dressed and I'll be in the living room, alright?" he asked. She nodded a little. Then she blushed bright red.

"Y-You didn't, um… You know… Um…" she said, unable to say it. Gajeel looked at her funny for a moment, before he got it and he looked away quickly.

"No. When we found you we called Levy, and she came over and helped clean you up," he said. She nodded a tiny bit.

"O-Okay," she said. He sighed and stepped out, pulling the door closed. That made her feel a tiny bit better. Slowly she got up and changed, neatly folding the ginormous shirt she had been wearing and laying it on the bed. She looked at herself in the mirror and then quickly looked away, disgusted by the girl she saw staring back. She sighed shakily and stepped out into the living room, where Gajeel stood. "Okay, I'm dressed," she said softly. He turned to her and tossed a coat at her.

"Put that on. It's still raining," he said. She nodded slowly, doing as she was told before following him out of the apartment.

XxX

His neck was stiff as he jumped awake. He looked toward the door, the source of the sound that had woken him and rubbed his neck, wincing in pain. He slowly stood and headed towards the door, slowly turning the handle and pulling the door open a little.

"What Gajeel?" he asked irritably.

"Delivery," he said, as Gray opened the door a little more.

"Oh my god, Ravyn," Gray said in disbelief as he hugged his sister tightly before she could say a word. "I was so worried, oh god, I'm sorry for what I said, I promise, it won't happen again," he said, feeling tears of relief spill from his eyes. He pulled back enough to look in her eyes. "I love you Ravyn, and I never want to see you get hurt like that again. And I never meant to upset you," he said. "I just got you back, I don't want to lose you again." He saw tears spill from her eyes as well and he hugged her again.

"I-I'm sorry Big Brother," she sobbed, gripping his shirt front. He ran his hand over her back and hugged her tighter.

"You have nothing to be sorry about," he whispered. He then shifted his gaze to iron dragon slayer. "Thank you Gajeel," he said. Gajeel just shook his head.

"Don't mention it. Go ahead, continue the sick love fest, I'm going home," he said, turning to walk away.

"Th-Thank you," he looked back to see Ravyn staring at him, tears still spilling. She smiled a little, and the corners of his mouth twitched up as well.

"I said don't mention it," he said, before he walked away.

'Something about that girl, I swear,' he thought as he headed home.

XxX

The rain was starting to let up as Gajeel walked home. It was quiet, save for the sound of his boots squishing down into the mud every time he took a step. It gave him time to think, though he didn't really feel like addressing the thoughts that were coming to him.

There was something about Ravyn that made him feel protective of her. He couldn't understand it, nor did he want to.

'You barely know the girl! You can't be attached to her like that in that short amount of time. Besides, Ice Boy would freakin' kill you,' he thought to himself with a sigh. 'She ain't Levy… Hell… It doesn't matter who she is or isn't… Just get over yourself,' he thought bitterly. 'God knows nothing good ever comes from shit like that.'

"Gajeel!" He almost stopped at the sound of his name, but the voice of the speaker willed him to keep walking. He didn't care what they'd want at the moment.

"GAJEEL!" This time he stopped dead and turned with a wicked glare.

"What Salamander?!" He snapped, his lips twitching up in an angry snarl.

"Have you seen Ravyn at all? She ran off from Gray's last night," Natsu said, completely ignoring the larger slayer's aggression.

"I know what fucking happened. I found her passed out in the mud last night. Just took her home," he snapped, turning away and starting away.

"Wait, what?!" Natsu cried. Gajeel stopped again and sighed, rolling his eyes before turning back to look Natsu, his expression more irritated than before.

"Are you deaf or something? I said I just took her home. You can quit running around like a chicken with your head cut off anytime now," he snapped before walking away this time, completely ignoring Natsu as he hurried away, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. His irritation was getting the best of him, and he knew the last thing he needed was to get in a fight with Natsu over something so stupid. Yes, they'd fought over stupider things, but Gajeel felt like he didn't have the energy for it today. He just wanted to go home, eat some metal, and zone out.

'Heh. He seems to be just as attached to her as I am… I can see those two getting' together. Easier on everyone,' he thought with a sigh.

When he finally made it back to his apartment he felt edgy. Now he almost wished he had got in a fight with Salamander. He dropped onto his couch with a sigh, his head falling back.

"Are you alright Gajeel?" Lily asked cautiously from the table he sat on reading a book.

"Just fucking great…" the sour dragon slayer replied. Lily frowned deeply but didn't question him further. He knew better than to prod when Gajeel was upset about something. If the Iron slayer wanted to talk, he would on his own terms.

And Lily had a feeling this was one of the times he would never find out what was up.

To be completely honest he was fine with that.

XxX

Two months passed. Ravyn was slowly becoming accustom to the guild, and the people in it. She still stayed near Gray most of the time, just to stay out of the way. However, she was also getting to know Lucy and Natsu as well as Erza and Happy. They were nice enough to her, but she almost felt as if maybe they looked down on her. Maybe that was her own insecurities, maybe not.

The only other person she hung out with was Gajeel and he always seemed distant. They didn't actually talk much. In reality if she sat near him it was completely quiet between them. She had no idea what to talk about and he wasn't offering up much either.

At times she wondered if he even liked her, but she figured since he chased away anyone he didn't like and he let her remain, he must at least like her better than anyone else besides Levy. She and Levy talked a little bit, usually whenever the blue haired girl would come over and start a small conversation with Gajeel.

Currently she was sitting at a table across from Gajeel who was staring intently at the table top. It was as quiet as normal, and while it normally bothered her, today she was completely fine with it. She didn't know why, but she was.

"Hey, uh, Ravyn," she turned at the sound of her voice and came face to face with Natsu. He gave her a smile that she only barely returned. "Can I uh, talk to you?" he asked, biting his lip a tiny bit.

"Uh…" her eyes shifted to Gajeel for a split second, who didn't so much as look up. "Um… okay…" she said, looking down a tiny bit. Natsu's smile widened a bit and he led her away from the table to a quieter part of the guild.

"So, what's up?" she asked nervously. She bit her own lip, and wrung her hands behind her back.

"Well… I um… Really uh… Like you…" Natsu said a slight blush coming to his cheeks. At the Ravyn was shocked. So shocked she couldn't say anything.

"And I was um… Wondering…" Natsu said as he continued. "Will you uh… Go out with me?"


End file.
